Vietnamese workers may have to work more years

Speaking during a debate held by the Government Portal on October 28, Loi said adjusting the retirement age is a sensitive issue as it would affect many aspects of life, so competent organisations should consider the issue carefully and closely to reach consensus.

At the debate, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Minh Huan presented two options for increasing the retirement age.

The first option is increasing the pension age from 60 to 62 for male workers and from 55 to 58 for female workers. The second option is increasing the pension age from 55 to 60 for female workers.

Huan said increasing the retirement age is necessary because at present total social insurance expenditure nationwide exceeded the Government’s income specifically designated for such expenses.

The country’s average life span is 73 years old. If retirement age stays the same, individual pensions must be paid for about 20 years, according to a Vietnam Social Insurance report.

Only about 40.5 percent of state workers retire at the regulated age, which is 60 for men and 55 for women. This leads to imbalances in the social insurance fund.

Tran Dinh Lieu, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Social Insurance, said Vietnam pays the highest amount for social insurance of all Asian countries, but the amount of people receiving pensions is also high.

Increasing the retirement age has been under consideration by the Government since 2008.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is studying the issues and setting up the project. The Ministry will take residents’ opinions before submitting recommendations to the Government and the National Assembly in 2017.

Some 191,000 people of working age with bachelor degrees are currently unemployed nationwide, the Government said in a report released at the opening session of the 14th National Assembly’s second meeting on October 20.